Good morning,
Governor Hogan renewed the State of Emergency on December 23, 2020. You can read the Proclamation here.
Economic Impact Payments: Legislation enacted on December 27, 2020, provides that the new stimulus payments to individuals will not be withheld to pay federal debts or to pay state child support enforcement orders and cannot be garnished by debt collectors.
Health Insurance Open Enrollment: Citing the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, Governor Hogan announced Monday that the state’s special health insurance enrollment period will be reopened in January and extended through mid-March 2021. Eligible residents who did not participate in the state’s extended special enrollment period in 2020 may now opt-in to Medicaid or private health coverage plans through the Maryland Health Connection.
To enroll in health insurance through the marketplace:
1) Go online to MarylandHealthConnection.gov
2) Call 1-855-642-8572 to speak to someone who will walk you through this process.
Student Loans: The automatic suspension of principal and interest payments on federally held student loans has been extended and will expire on January 31, 2021.
Lifeline: Lifeline is a federal program that provides discounts for limited income consumers on their telephone and internet services. In Maryland the program is called Tel‐Life. See the attachment to learn more about Lifeline services and how to apply. As the program phases out monthly support for voice only in favor of broadband support, beginning December 1, 2020 Lifeline has lowered the voice-only support to $5.25.
Training: If you would like the Office of People's Counsel to provide free training to your organization on the current state of utilities, in depth look at OHEP applications, or little known utility consumer protections please feel free to reach out to me and we can discuss your agency needs.
Economic Impact Payments: The Treasury Department and the Internal Revenue Service have begun delivering a second round of Economic Impact Payments as part of the implementation of the Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act of 2021. The initial direct deposit payments began last week and will continue through this week. Paper checks began being mailed December 30. Eligible individuals will receive an Economic Impact Payment of up to $600 for individuals or $1200 for married couples and up to $600 for each qualifying child. Generally, if you have adjusted gross income for 2019 up to $75,000 for individuals and up to $150,000 for married couples filing joint returns and surviving spouses, you will receive the full amount of the second payment. For filers with income above those amounts, the payment amount is reduced. For more information
check out the press release from the U.S Department of the Treasury.
Unemployment: On December 27, the federal COVID-19 relief package that extends and provides additional federal unemployment benefits was signed into law. Labor has reviewed the legislation and is working with the vendor to begin programming the four extended and additional programs in the BEACON system. An overview of the four programs can be found attached to this email or you can check it out here. However, the department is waiting to receive complete and detailed guidance from the U.S. Department of Labor for each program before it can be implemented and paid in Maryland. States cannot move forward without this guidance and it is likely that guidance will be issued early in the new year. As the guidance is received, Maryland will modify the BEACON system and implement each program. The department will send an email directly to all claimants with instructions as soon as they may file for benefits from the extended and additional programs. For more information, please visit the MD Division of Labor website.
Utility Assistance: The Public Service Commission issued consumer protections around turn-off notices and payment plans. Some of these protections include 12 and 24 month payment plans which might be especially helpful right now for some households. The Office of People's Counsel has summarized these rulings here.
If you are struggling to pay your utility bill there may be resources available to help.
- Office of Home Energy Programs
- Fuel Fund of Maryland
- Office of People’s Counsel Community Resource Guides
- Call 2-1-1 for information about other financial assistance resources in your community
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Brandi Nieland, LCSW
Director of Consumer Assistance
Maryland Office of People's Counsel
6 St.Paul Street, Suite 2102
Baltimore, MD 21202
Pronouns: She/Her
